During Spanish class, junior Eamon Homedi was typing his notes about the lesson when he gave in to the urge to open a new tab on his laptop. He hovered the cursor over the button, and with one click, shifted his focus from subjunctive verbs to YouTube videos.

“I was watching Jimmy Fallon, and then [my Spanish teacher] walked by,” said Homedi. “I switched [out of the tab], and she asked me, ‘Oh, was that Jimmy Fallon?’ and I said, ‘No, it was a Spanish show,’ and she believed me.”

In addition to making students more susceptible to distractions, a study published in Psychological Science states that using a computer to take notes can negatively impact students by hurting their ability to process material. The speed of typing causes students to concentrate on transcribing all of the information presented to them, whereas handwriting only gives time to write what is most important, forcing students to analyze the information.

Danny Oppenheimer, professor of psychology and business management at UCLA and co-author of the study, said in an email that recording what a teacher says by typing is not worth losing the benefits of handwriting.

“When people handwrite, they can’t [copy a lecture verbatim], so they are forced to summarize the lesson in their own words,” said Oppenheimer. “That means that when they are taking notes, they are forced to understand the concepts and rephrase those concepts. In other words, handwriters are forced to think more deeply about the concepts, and deeper thinking in turn helps people learn more effectively.”

Junior Dylan Chase said he chooses to take notes solely by hand because it encourages him to paraphrase the material to keep his notes concise, and he can recall information more easily.

“When [you handwrite], you only focus on the more important information instead of trying to write down every little thing, and you definitely have to think about it more,” Chase said.

Social studies teacher Robert Berg said he senses a different learning environment when all his students are staring at their Chromebooks as they type notes, feeling as though they are less engaged. During some parts of his lectures, he does not allow students to take notes at all, obligating them to give their full attention to interpreting a concept as he explains it.

Homedi said there are more benefits to typing beyond speed and convenience.

“You can collaborate with other people, like sharing [a document] to get a more thorough picture of what’s being explained,” Homedi said.

Oppenheimer said that in the end, the top priority should be ensuring an understanding of material because it is important for comprehensive learning.

“You need to think about how the media will help or hinder your tendency to think deeply about what you’re learning,” Oppenheimer said.

Berg said the role note taking plays in learning branches beyond just preparing for everyday class and tests.

“It’s about developing a learning style,” said Berg. “It’s about developing the skills you’re going to need in the real world … All of that requires a certain level of involvement with the information that is being imparted to you. So, if you don’t take an active involvement, if you’re not learning that in high school, when are you going to learn it?”